America鈥檚 11 most endangered historic places: Are they worth saving?
The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its annual list of the most endangered architectural and cultural sites in the United States on Wednesday, showcasing such diverse sites as San Francisco鈥檚 Embarcadero District and the nearly 2-million-acre cultural landscape called Bears Ears in Utah.
Preservationists say that with populations shifting back toward urban centers, preserving and revitalizing critical parts of America's cultural heritage can be key to building its future. The Millennial generation, in particular, seems to agree.
As young people shows increasing interest in historic buildings and the environmental and human benefits of reusing historic structures, communities stand to benefit, Boston University Preservation Studies program director Daniel Bluestone tells 海角大神 in a phone interview. Reusing older buildings not only increases individual connections to a local identity, but it can also decrease dependence on dwindling natural resources.
鈥淥ld buildings help us to think more deeply about our own citizenship, and our own relationship to our world and resources,鈥� says Dr. Bluestone. 鈥淭here is incredibly important social capital generated around cultural resources such as heritage sites.鈥�
Among the 11 most endangered places on the are two neighborhoods in El Paso, Texas; a building on the campus of the first degree-granting university for African-Americans; and the Milwaukee Domes, space-race era structures that preserve different habitats for community enjoyment.
The buildings, sites, and neighborhoods on the list reflect what William DuPont,聽the director of the Center for Cultural Sustainability at the University of Texas, San Antonio, tells the Monitor is a trend toward cultural inclusivity.
Mr. DuPont says the list showcases sites that are relevant to a variety of people聽and represent more than simply walls and windows. Instead, the buildings and sites are culturally relevant聽and are tied to the identity, past, and social customs of the communities that surround them.
The Embarcadero District in San Francisco, for example, once served as a bustling trade port, and remains part of the city鈥檚 commercial life. In Austin, Texas, the Austin鈥檚 Lions Municipal Golf Course preserves the first desegregated municipal golf course in the South, but is under development pressure that threatens its survival.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a richness and variety and diversity in historic buildings that we can鈥檛 quite reproduce,鈥� San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission president Andrew Wolfram tells the Monitor.
As Americans, and particularly young Americans, move back to the nation鈥檚 cities in droves, preservationists say that shifting attitudes toward cultural preservation have a .
鈥淩esearch shows that older buildings support more small and women/minority owned businesses, can accommodate more people, and have environmental benefits,鈥� says National Trust for Historic Preservation president Stephanie Meeks, the author of a book called 鈥淭he Past and Future City鈥� about the effect of preservation on urban revitalization.
More than 80 percent of Americans now live in cities, Ms. Meeks said in a National Trust press release, where many of them are choosing to live in historic buildings and districts, which tend to not only be more aesthetically attractive聽but are also walkable and accessible.
Millennials, in particular, are interested in historic buildings, according to Meeks, who tells the Monitor that growing numbers of 鈥減reservation allies鈥� on social media have energized the preservation movement. The market is responding to that interest, she says, with youth-engaged companies such as Amazon and Google located in historic buildings, and demand for renovated lofts on the rise.
The central importance of the National Trust鈥檚 list, however, is galvanizing real support for preservation, something that Millennials have not yet fully engaged in, according to experts.
While rising interest is encouraging, Meeks says, 鈥渨e hope that this list will remind people that somebody out there fought for the preservation of the buildings that they enjoy.鈥�
These particular buildings and sites were chosen because, without an upswing in support for their preservation, they are likley to succumb to the pressures that landed them in their not-so-coveted position on the eleven most threatened list.
鈥淭he biggest challenge for preservationists is the Second Law of Thermodynamics,鈥� Bluestone says, referring to a principle in physics that the entropy of a system tends to increase over time. 鈥淲e need to find and invest resources to keep these structures around.鈥�
For Millennials and others interested in environmental sustainability, experts say that older buildings are surprisingly eco-friendly. According to a published in 2011, the greenest building is the one already built.
It can take between 10 and 40 years for the environment to recover the costs of building the most sustainable structure, Meeks says.
And in the end, buildings are the foundation of a community, preservationists say, and can feed the soul in a globalized, modern world.
鈥淎nyone who dismisses a building simply because it is old is missing what is going on in our increasingly homogenous world culture, which is that people are seeking out places that have some connection to regional distinctions,鈥� Bluestone says.
Meeks agrees.
鈥淗istoric buildings make our towns somewhere, rather than anywhere,鈥� she says.
